Master class in children’s theatre launches two new plays to professional stages
Funded through a private donation, a master class in writing children’s plays gives students a rare opportunity to have a professional theatre select their play for production already before graduating.
The Theatre Academy joined forces with Theatre Hevosenkenkä this September by organising a master class in writing plays aimed at children. British playwright Philip Porter, known for writing several acclaimed children’s plays, was invited as the teacher for the course. His works have been performed in several esteemed theatres, including in London.
Participants on the course were students of dramaturgy and playwriting and directing. The structure of the course was simple: first, Porter led a session where students read and analysed plays, and then they were asked to start writing their own texts. During the process, the students worked on scenes together with actors from Theatre Hevosenkenkä, and at the end of the course, the ten-minute scenes were performed to a live audience on the theatre’s stage. One-to-one guidance and feedback from Porter played a major role on the course.
Another aspect of the cooperation with Theatre Hevosenkenkä is that the theatre will choose one of the plays written on the course for production. Besides performances on Theatre Hevosenkenkä’s home stage in Espoo, the production will tour at least in Vaasa, Kouvola and Mikkeli.
The Lappeenranta City Theatre has agreed to stage one other play written on the course. This means that there will be at least two professional productions of plays written by the academy’s students. Students will also receive a grant for finishing their plays.
“Our master’s students have all the skills and the vision needed for writing plays for professional theatres. But having a theatre select your play for production requires knowledge of production structures and often also professional connections or established reputation in the field. Getting a professional theatre to select your play for production for the first time is the most challenging part and critical for getting a foot in the door career-wise,” Professor of Dramaturgy and Playwriting Heini Junkkaala noted.
Organising the master class was made possible through a private donation. Three private individuals who wish to stay anonymous made a 150,000-euro donation to Uniarts Helsinki to support new Finnish drama. The donation enables the organising of three master classes, each with their own topic and a top international talent as the teacher.
The first course in the master class series was organised in autumn 2025 with the focus on writing chamber plays. The teacher on the course was Swedish playwright Mia Törnqvist. The course resulted in a play by student Peppi Toivola, and Mitä tapahtui Oliverille? will premiere in December 2026 at Theatre Jurkka with Tuomas Parkkinen as the director. Other plays written by students on the same course will also be performed on professional stages in the near future.
“Without the donated funds, we wouldn’t be able to invite international top names to visit the course. It’s thanks to the donation that we also get to engage in exceptionally close cooperation with professional theatres. Even a small financial contribution multiplies itself to such a big extent that it not only benefits individual students but the whole field, as well. I dare to hope that we enter another golden age of Finnish children’s theatre spurred by the course we had this September,” Heini Junkkaala commented.
The third and last course in the master class series will be organised in autumn 2027. Its focus will be on writing for musical theatre.
Visit our Instagram account to watch a video from the course.